FREDERICTON —
The New Brunswick government tables its 2020-2021 provincial budget today, but the focus for most people will be more on the politics than the finances.
“The Higgs government will stand or fall on it, and it all depends on whether they can get the support of the third parties,” said Donald Wright, a political scientist at the University of New Brunswick.
The minority Progressive Conservative government of Premier Blaine Higgs has been under fire since introducing proposed health reforms that included the nighttime closing of emergency rooms in six community hospitals.
The government put the reforms on hold following a public and political backlash, but the Opposition Liberals are using the issue as a reason to try to topple the government.
“The only responsible position for a leader of an Opposition party is to defeat this government at the earliest opportunity. I believe it is time for citizens to decide — it is time for an election in New Brunswick,” Liberal Leader Kevin Vickers tweeted Monday.
The vote on any budget bill is considered a confidence vote. The current standings in the provincial legislature are 20 Tories, 20 Liberals, three Greens, three People’s Alliance members, one Independent and two vacancies.
The Independent is former Tory deputy premier Robert Gauvin, who quit the caucus over the health-care dispute.
Liberal Daniel Guitard sits as Speaker of the legislature, but Vickers has suggested he could be recalled from that role in order to give the party the votes it needs to topple the government.
There have also been questions about how Saint John Liberal Gerry Lowe will vote. Lowe has suggested he wants funding for a school in his riding, and is considering a return to municipal politics.
Wright calls Lowe a “loose fish … meaning he could flip or flop, depending on what is in the budget.”
Green Leader David Coon said he would be discussing the budget with his caucus Monday evening and Tuesday morning, and would not say yet how he plans to vote.
Wright said neither Coon nor People’s Alliance Leader Kris Austin want a provincial election, but he was surprised the Liberals are pushing for one.
He said Vickers “played his cards even before the hand was dealt.”
“I was surprised at how quick out of the gate Kevin Vickers was to say he would vote against the budget when he hadn’t event see it. You would think they would try to work with the government, but not this leader,” Wright said.
He said that could backfire on the Liberals, depending on the content of the budget.
Finance Minister Ernie Steeves said Monday the budget does hit the government’s target of $125 million in surplus to apply to the net debt.
He insisted it’s not an “election budget.”
“It isn’t about spending big money and not tackling the debt. We are tackling the debt first and foremost,” Steeves said.
The vote on the budget is expected March 20.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2020.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
